Flyboys
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: September 22, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
13
Negative:
4
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Hollywood ReporterSheri Linden
A decidedly old-fashioned war film that reaches for epic sweep but is often bogged down in cliched drama and two-dimensional characters. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Lovingly and knowledgeably made by director Tony Bill, who got his pilot's license as a teenager, pic nonetheless has a lightweight, airbrushed feel; despite the brutal dogfights and inevitable deaths, there's little gravity or resonance. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
There's something almost perversely old-fashioned about Flyboys. Read full review
50
Village VoiceBill Gallo
Here is the War to End All Wars seen from on high--as it was way back when, in "Wings" or the Howard Hughes "Hell's Angels"--a world apart from the grim, futile slaughterhouses of Verdun and the Marne. Among these combatants, you won't find much "All Quiet on the Western Front"–style despair, and the paths of glory are unsullied by doubt or disillusionment. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Just about everything in the video-gamey World War I picture Flyboys rings false, although the planes certainly are terrific. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephen Hunter
While the music slops and churns and the ground-level bathos rises, the aerial stuff is occasionally stirring. Read full review
50
The New York TimesNathan Lee
Despite its empty head and arduous length, Flyboys is ever so nice, in the manner of a Norman Rockwell illustration. The director, Tony Bill, may not be a philosopher but he is a gentleman, moving things along with a tidy, well-mannered hand. In another context, such politesse might feel tonic. Given the state of things, it’s nearly toxic. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The aerial dogfights are thrilling, but the script seems to have been written by Snoopy. Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerWalter Addiego
Besides some fine dogfight sequences, it often feels threadbare, just an exercise in recycling. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Flyboys is so schematic and contrived, you can anticipate exactly what scene is going to come next, and who will be the next to die in combat, once you latch onto the structure of the script, which has all the inventiveness and ingenuity of a flow chart. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Shot like a Disney period piece (prettily, with spiffy props, shiny vintage vehicles, and costumes just back from the cleaners), Flyboys introduces its squadron the old-fashioned way: with character-establishing setups. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyGregory Kirshling
This is a lost opportunity on an epic scale. The actors are so styled and the dogfights so drippy with CG that, as a period piece, the movie almost looks like it's set in the future. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
While director Bill nails the sheer spectacle of squads of SPADs dovetailing in flames into the wide blue yonder, the earthbound action (much as it was in another sputtering epic, Michael Bay's "Pearl Harbor") is strictly laissez faire. Read full review
More From This Movie

47 Critic Reviews

6.9 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 71 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL